Hot Shot
by pikapikatchu
Summary: When Nick gets hit by friendly fire, Greg has to defend his friend against a shady police officer.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys!**

**Here's a new story of mine! With Nick being absent on the show for a few eps, I figured this was a good show to get you guys your Nick-fix for a while ;)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hello Dr. Reyes." Greg sat down on a couch in his psychiatrist's office. He's been here once a week for quite some time now but skipped the last three sessions.

"Greg, I'm surprised to see you." She smiled at him as she sat down on a chair. "How are you?" Dr. Reyes was a very talented psychiatrist. She had her own practice for almost 25 years now. Victims of sexual violence frequented her.

Greg nodded. "I'm good, I guess."

Her smile got bigger. "I doubt you'd come here if that were true. You skipped the last few appointments, did something come up each time or did you just not feel like talking?"

The CSI took in a deep breath before answering. "I just thought I didn't need to come here anymore. I was feeling great, you know?"

She nodded. "You were doing great. Your mood swings were getting better, right?"

He nodded. "I was able to fall asleep without thinking about bad things. I was eating well, my relationship with my friends was good..."

Reyes noticed that Greg was trying to say what was on his mind, but the words wouldn't come out. "Greg. Something brought back the memories, right?"

"It was a really silly thing. You know, officer Spencer... I told you about him. He's a very friendly guy. He always asks me how I'm doing. And a few days ago, he asked if I was seeing someone. In front of everybody."

"Who's everybody?" She leaned forward.

"Nick, Brass, a bunch of officers..."

"What did you tell him?"

Greg released a short laugh as he shook his head. "I could've just said no and leave it at that, you know? Nobody would've asked any more questions. Instead, I got nervous. I felt like they were all watching me when they really didn't. So I just walked away."

"Why? What did you feel when he asked you?"

"Shame, mostly. Fear, too, I guess."

She nodded. "I thought we've already established that there's no need for these feelings."

"Easier said than done," he said with a sad chuckle. "The last woman I've dated I couldn't even kiss without thinking about Novak, so I didn't even attempt another try at a relationship. I'd only disappoint her, anyway."

"Disappoint her how?"

"Well you know how these things work. Everybody expects something from their partners and..."

"But don't you think there's a lot of women out there who would be patient with you?"

Greg nodded with a sad look. The way his last relationship turned out, he had lost hope. "I'd probably have to date a few of the impatient ones before I find someone like that. I'm not sure it's worth it." He shook his head. "I know what you want to say. But I don't feel like that all the time. I'm just a little down in general, that's why I'm so pessimistic about this right now."

"I hope it's just a phase, Greg, but I really think you should get back out there, you know? Go on a few dates, enjoy a woman's company."

He shrugged. "I don't know."

"A few first dates can't hurt, right? It could be just what you need to get your confidence back. And you'll have an answer to questions like Spencer's." She smiled at him.

Greg chuckled. "Or I could make it up."

* * *

Greg talked with Dr. Reyes about that subject for the rest of the session and it helped her feel a lot better about it. But still, he was feeling bad for the way he reacted towards Spencer's innocent answer. "I don't know. Maybe I should apologize..." Greg got out of Nick's car with a sad, guilty look on his face. Nick brought the subject up again, not knowing that Greg had already talked about it in therapy.

"Why? You did nothing wrong. Spencer had it coming, he's a prying creep," Nick said determined as they walked inside a diner to get some takeout for their lunch break.

"Maybe he just meant well."

"Yeah maybe he shouldn't have asked you about your love life with three police men standing around."

"He couldn't have known it's been non-existent for the past months. And I could've reacted differently."

"Sure, but..." Nick walked into the diner first and instantly stopped talking at the sight that presented to him. "Greg." He stopped before the younger CSI could enter. He quickly drew his gun.

"...What's going on?"

"You don't have your gun with you?" he whispered to Greg.

"No," he said while taking a peek inside. All he could see was blood everywhere.

"Alright, then go outside and call for backup and the medics."

Without knowing what exactly was going on, Greg hurried outside to do what he was told.

* * *

On his way out, Greg saw a police officer walking up to the diner. "Hey!" He ran up to him to quickly explain what was going on without being too sure, himself. The officer told him the same thing Nick just did before entering. When he reached the car to get his radio, there were three shots heard. After his desperate call for backup, he wanted to run back inside, although emergency protocol demanded an unarmed CSI to stay away.

Luckily for him, a patrol car pulled up before he reached the entrance. "What's going on?"

He quickly filled them in as the two officers got out of their car, running towards the diner. At the same time, the police officer who walked in before, came back outside, looking at Greg in a weird manner.

"Hey, Astin!" one of the officers said to their colleague. "What happened in there?"

Without looking at the fellow police officers, officer Astin walked up to Greg and pushed him against the patrol car.

"Where's your gun?!" he yelled at Greg while putting handcuffs on him.

"...What are you doing?!" Greg asked confused.

"Astin, what the hell, man? He's a CSI!"

"So he says! He and his accomplice ambushed me! Almost got me killed!"

"What?! ...Where's Nick? Is he alright?!" He tried to turn around.

"Shut up!" officer Astin yelled as he shoved the young CSI against the car again. "Get this scum out of my sight!"

While backup finally arrived and checked out the diner, the officers checked Nick's car. They walked over to Greg and officer Astin. "...Astin, we found his I.D. inside the car. He **is** a CSI."

Officer Astin had a shocked look on his face. "...Doesn't necessarily rule him out as a suspect, does it?"

"Over here!" An officer walked outside the diner to wave at the paramedics while officer Astin got the handcuffs off of Greg.

Greg gave him an angry look. "Now where's Nick?" he asked while the paramedics rolled someone out on a gurney. "...Oh no." He ran over to his unconscious friend. "What happened to him?!"

"Two gunshot wounds," the paramedic replied. "We're taking him to Desert Palms."

Greg just stood there in shock, trying to comprehend what was going on. "Is he going to be alright?"

The paramedic gave him a discouraging look. "We'll do everything we can."

"I wanna go with him."

"You can't, there's not enough room inside the ambulance."

"Alright," Greg replied, still in shock. It took him some time to come up with the idea of taking Nick's car and driving to the hospital with it. "I'll meet you there, Nick. You're going to be alright, okay?" he said to his unconscious friend, trying to believe his own words.

The ambulance drove off while the officers were talking to Astin, trying to understand what happened. "He was shooting at me so I fired back. I had no idea he was a CSI..."

Greg overheard officer Astin say this. He walked up to him. "You did this? You shot him?!"

"Hey, he shot first!"

"Why would he do that? You're a cop in uniform!"

"He shot at me, anyway!"

The CSI didn't want to believe that Nick would shoot at anybody without asking questions first. Not without being threatened. "Arrest him!"

"...What?" the other officers asked confused.

"He shot at a CSI. Arrest him!"

"I'm sorry, we can't do that..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Since the first chapter was kind of cliffhanger-ish, here's the second already!**

* * *

Greg tried to convince the police officers to arrest officer Astin, but they refused to do so. They were all working at the same police department and were friends, yet didn't even know Greg. They believed Astin when he said he shot Nick in self defense. So when he realized it was senseless talking to them, he drove to the hospital instead. "Russell, there you are!" Greg hurried over to him with a helpless look on his face. "They won't tell me anything..."

"Sara's on her way, I came here as soon as I heard. What happened?"

"I'm not sure, I... We walked inside that diner and there was a lot of blood. I didn't even get a good look inside. I went to call for backup while Nick checked it out..." They sat down in the hospital's lobby. "On my way out, there was this cop. He walked in, too, then I heard shots. The cop claims Nick shot at him first..."

"...How is he now?"

Greg had a hard time holding back his tears. They slowly started falling down his cheeks. "I don't know. They won't let me to him, they won't tell me about his condition, I..."

"Okay. It's okay. Let me talk to the doctors, alright? Maybe I'm able to get an update..."

Russell walked away to find a doctor to talk to. While he was gone, Greg was approached by a detective.

"Mr. Sanders? I'm detective Handler. I was wondering if we could talk?"

Nervously looking in the direction Russell went, he nodded. "Sure." Greg had to go over the story of how Nick got shot again, without knowing what actually went down inside.

The detective jotted down everything Greg said. "Great, thanks. I just have a few more questions. Nick Stokes, he's your co-worker? How would you describe his mental state today?"

"...Excuse me?"

"Did he seem a little sad... depressed, maybe?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I was just wondering if he had any personal problems you know about."

"No. No, he seemed fine up until the point that officer shot him," Greg replied unnerved.

"Mr. Sanders, I'm only trying to shed some light on this event. Law enforcement is always a stressful and dangerous job, after all. Was he troubled?"

"...I hope you're not implying what it sounds like. Nick isn't suicidal." Greg was getting really angry.

"I like this theory better than the alternative."

"...What is the alternative?"

The detective didn't need to answer, Greg could read it on his face. "We're just trying to find out what happened."

"I can tell you what happened. The officer walked into the diner, saw Nick with his gun drawn and shot him without asking any questions. And now he's trying to cover his ass by putting the blame on Nick."

"We didn't find anything that indicates that."

"Oh yeah? And what indicates your lame suicide theory?!"

While Greg was losing his temper with the detective, Russell came back. "Hey. Who are you?"

"Detective Handler. I believe you're CSI Russell?"

"Yeah. Have you figured out what happened yet?"

"Maybe you could give me some information on Mr. Stokes' mental status."

"His mental status? Why...?" As the detective tried to explaine, he got into the same argument with Russell as he did with Greg. "You should leave now. We're not here to question our friend's mental health. We're here to make sure he recovers from the recklessnes of officer Astin."

* * *

Nick was out of surgery, but neither Russell nor Greg could go talk to him just yet. "He's in a medically induced coma," the doctor explained while standing outside Nick's hospital room with Greg and Russell.

"For how long?" Russell asked concerned.

"We hope that it won't take much longer than one or two days, but we can't make any promises yet. But he should make a full recovery. It's just a precaution." The doctor gave them a promising smile. "You can see him now. Talk to him, he probably knows you're there."

* * *

Greg came back to the hospital the next day before his shift, hoping they would put Nick out of the coma today. The doctors didn't think it was a good idea, though, so the CSI remained in a comatic state for a little longer. Greg spent some time with his friend, sometimes talking to him, sometimes just sitting there with him. He didn't have as much time as he would've liked, though. "Alright Nick. I gotta go to work, but I'll come by after shift. See you later." He walked out of Nick's room and came as far as to his car until he remembered that Sara had asked him to get Nick something from her. She had given him Nick's CSI cap he had forgotten at the lab the day he got shot and she wanted him to have it, so he walked back to do her that favor. "I totally forgot I got something for you," Greg said while walking into the hospital room and closing the door behind him. "Your cap, you forg..." Greg stopped as he turned his head to look at Nick's bed. "...Who are you?" he asked a man standing next to Nick, holding a syringe in his hand.

"I'm sorry, visiting hours are over," the man said in a weird way.

"...Get away from him." Greg walked up to the man, instantly knowing something was wrong. The stranger was wearing hospital clothes, but his behavior seemed weird. "What's in that syringe?"

"I'll be gone in a minute," the man said while taking a few steps closer to Nick.

Greg grabbed his arm. "Get out of here!" He managed to get the syringe out of the man's hand, but the stranger fought back.

He pushed Greg to the ground. "Where is it?! Where's the syringe?!" he yelled, desperately looking for it but unable to find it. He kicked Greg in anger before running out of the room. The young CSI slowly got up, trying to run after the man, but he was already gone. He panted exhausted as he called for a nurse to check on Nick.

* * *

"No, I'm okay. I guess you saved his life," Greg said with a smile to Sara while she was searching Nick's room for the missing syringe.

"Well, glad I could help. But why would anyone want to kill him?" She looked concerned at the unconscious Nick. "I don't get it."

"It could have something to do with the shooting at the diner. Maybe it was the shooter, trying to get rid of any witnesses."

"Then why go after him but not you?"

"I don't know. Maybe he was inside and knew I didn't see anything." He shrugged.

"...Found it!" she exclaimed joyful. "Let's see if Henry can figure out what it is."

* * *

While a police officer was guarding Nick's room, Henry had the results of the test back. "Insulin," he said while handing Sara the sheet. "More than enough to kill a man."

"Thanks... Anything you can tell me that could lead us to the guy?"

"Well, Mandy says she found a partial print on the syringe but it's not enough to find a match, sorry."

* * *

Nick was out of the coma and had to talk to detective Handler befor he was allowed to see Greg. Russell was with Nick while the detective talked to him. When he left Nick's room, Greg wanted to walk in. Russell walked out, keeping his colleague from walking in. "He says he doesn't remember anything."

"Did his injuries cause amnesia?"

Russell shook his head. "The doctors said it could be psychological."

"Well that's no wonder, is it?"

"That's not the point." Russell shook his head. "Officer Astin has his own story how it all went down, you didn't see anything and Nick doesn't remember. It doesn't look good."

"Yeah but come on, we both know Nick's innocent. And he isn't suicidal, either." Greg was fed up with this topic. He knew his friend and knew that there was no way he was responsible for the shots being fired. "Can I go see him now?"

* * *

"Greg, hey," Nick said with a tired smile on his face as the younger CSI walked into the hospital room.

"How're you doing?" Greg smiled at him. "You scared us all."

"Sorry." Nick chuckled. The anesthesia was still wearing off. "Did he make it?"

"Who?"

"One of the people in the diner, he was alive when I walked in..."

Greg shook his head. "I'm sorry. They all died."

"Oh. That's horrible."

Greg nodded. "And you don't remember anything after that?"

The wounded CSI shook his head. "It went dark after that."

"Well..." Greg patted Nick's leg. "It's not your job to think about that now, anyway. Sara will be here any minute to keep you company. I have to leave now, but I'll drop by later, alright?"

"Greg," Nick said, slowly sitting up. "You know I didn't do what the detective is saying, right?"

"...Of course. I tried to tell him that, but... I think he's more interested in protecting Astin than finding the truth. But I'm sure they'll find out what really happened. Don't worry."

Nick nodded with teary eyes. "I just don't want you to believe what they're saying."

Greg flashed Nick a sweet smile. "I don't. Not even for a second."


	3. Chapter 3

**Greetings new followers! And old ones, of course! Enjoy Chapter 3!**

* * *

Greg arrived back at the lab, storming into Russell's office, who was talking on the phone. "Who's taking over the case?"

"...I'll have to call you back." The supervisor put the phone down. "You're talking about Nick's case?"

"And the diner case. Are you and Sara taking over?"

Russell shook his head. "I'm afraid we can't. Nick's involvement doesn't allow us anywhere near that case. That includes you, by the way."

"I know. I'd just like to look whoever takes on the case over their shoulder, you know?"

"I'd rather have you stay away from the case completely. Let swing shift take care of it."

Greg sighed as he had a thoughtful look on his face. "...Bodies are down at the morgue?"

Russell nodded. "I wish I could tell you to stay away from there, too, but I need you to take on this case." He handed him some files. "I need to take care of some things, so you're on your own for now."

Greg nodded. "Will Sara join me later?"

He shook his head smiling. "I'll need her help. You'll be fine on your own."

* * *

Greg would've done it, either way, but needing to go down to the morgue because of his new case was a great opportunity to find out more about the diner shooting. "David, hey. Where's Doc Robbins?"

"Oh hey Greg. He's got a meeting with Russell and Brass. You're here for the Dacascos murder case, right?"

Greg hadn't even looked into the files yet, he had no idea what the victim's name was. "Yeah right... But there's something else I wanted you to help me with first."

"Sure, what is it?" naïve David asked with a smile on his face.

"I don't know the victim's names but... they died at a shooting in a diner two days ago."

"Oh, I remember." David walked towards the room where the bodies were in before he remembered something else about the case. "...Wasn't this where Nick was shot at?"

"...Was it? Oh, yeah, sure. You're right."

David gave him a look. "How stupid do you think I am? I know that you were with him. And I also know that Russell asked for you to stay away from the case."

"I don't want to touch anything or sign my name under any file. I just want to know how they died."

"What do you think they died of when they were in a shooting?"

Greg sighed. "Nick said that one of them was still alive when he walked in."

"...I'm sorry I can't help you."

"Come on, David! I don't even have to look! Just read the cause of death out loud while... I'm in the room, too. Russell will never know."

After thinking about it for a moment, David made a decision. "Turn around with your eyes closed."

Greg rolled his eyes before doing what David asked.

"Alright... five bodies... Four deaths due to the gunshot wounds and... oh."

"What? What is it?" Greg asked impatiently.

"One's still unknown."

"What did it look like?"

"I don't know. Doc Robbins did them alone."

"What does the victim look like?"

"...What?"

"I need to know so I can ask Nick if he's the one who was still alive."

"Greg, the victim had a gunshot wound. We're just not sure yet whether or not that's what killed him."

"What else could've?"

"Heart attack from the stress, maybe. Or a blow to the head when he went down. We'll know soon."

"Just tell me how old he was and what color his hair is."

Again, it took David a moment to come to a decision. "I'm not telling you how old this 37 something blonde guy was, alright?"

Greg turned around to David with a big smile. "Thanks, man!"

* * *

"Don't obsess over this." Nick was trying to sit up in his hospital bed, but needed some help from Greg.

"I'm not. I'm just thinking it's not a coincidence that this guy is alive when you walk in, but is dead five minutes later when the paramedics arrive."

"Don't they have anyone else taking care of that case?"

"Swing shift."

Nick sensed some resentment from Greg. "What's wrong with swing shift? They're great CSIs."

"Yeah I know. But they won't tell me anything."

Nick chuckled. "That's kind of the point. Just let them do their jobs. They'll find out what happened in there."

"...And you still don't remember?" Greg sat down on a chair next to Nick's bed.

He shook his head. "I'm trying to, but shortly after seeing that guy still alive it goes dark. Makes me wonder if I remember that one correctly."

"...You doubt that he was alive?"

Nick shrugged. "Can't be sure, now, can I? He didn't talk to me, but I saw that he was still breathing. His eyes were opened and looked very frightened..." He shook his head. "It's a horrible image. I'd prefer it to be made up."

"You shouldn't doubt yourself. If you remember it, it happened."

Nick sighed thoughtful. "So... Wanna tell me why an officer's outside my room all the time?"

* * *

After spending almost two hours with Nick, Greg went home to get some rest before going to work again. Since Nick obviously couldn't go to work, Greg needed to work overtime. On his way inside his apartment complex, the two officers that arrived at the scene shortly after Astin walked up to him. "Hey. It's Sanders, right? How's your partner?"

Greg looked at them rather suspiciously. "He's gonna be alright."

"That's good to hear. Listen. Astin's a great guy. He saved my life more than once out there."

Greg raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"What we're trying to say is... whatever you think happened that day, you're wrong. Astin's a great cop. Your partner must've mistaken him for the shooter. Maybe he fired a shot in panic. Astin did nothing wrong, he needed to protect himself, is all."

Greg knew it wasn't a good idea to talk to these two cops, but he couldn't restrain himself. "No. **You're** wrong. Nick isn't the 'shoot first, ask questions later', type of guy."

"...Astin isn't, either."

"We'll see about that."

The officers both gave Greg an annoyed look. "Yeah. The investigation will clear our guy. You'll see."

"You should probably get going now. This part of town is a little far off your precinct."

"Sure. Have a nice day." They both gave him a quite threatening look before walking off.


	4. Chapter 4

**Happy Halloween, guys!**

**Since I don't have a Halloween-themed story for you I thought I just publish the new chapter to give you a little treat! Enjoy!**

* * *

"I'm sorry I have to say this, but I'm not comfortable with that." Mandy took a sip from her coffee cup as she tried to avoid eye contact with Greg. He had gathered the lab rats inside the break room.

"Oh come on, don't be a wuss. It's exciting. It'll be our secret," Charlotte chimed in while giving Greg a sexy smile. They had hit a rough patch after he turned her down, but everything was good between the two, now. "Count me in, sexy."

Greg gave her a sweet, but also a little sheepishly, smile. "Thanks. So how about you two?"

With their friendship still being a bit rocky, Robin felt like she had no option but to agree. "Sure. I'm in, too."

Hodges looked around the break room to watch his colleagues. Mandy and Robin were showing a lot of discomfort while Charlotte was as confident as always. "Ah what the heck. There isn't much excitement around the lab these days, anyway. Let's do this."

"...Really? **You** want to do that?" Mandy asked surprised. "We don't have to, you know. In fact... we're not supposed to."

"Yeah but how are they gonna find out? We're allowed to discuss cases. There's no law that forbids us to talk about this case with him, right?"

"I still don't have a good feeling about this, Greg. I'm sorry." Mandy shook her head.

"Alright." He sighed, knowing that fingerprints wouldn't get him much further to the truth in this case, anyway. "But please don't tell anyone we had this meeting."

* * *

The lab rats went back inside their labs, doing their part in trying to figure out what had happened inside the diner. While he was waiting for some news from them, Greg kept working on the case Russell had assigned him to. He was working non-stop for two hours when Charlotte walked into the evidence room. "Bullets from three different guns."

Greg looked up from the evidence he was working on. "Three. Nick's gun, Astin's gun and an unknown?"

Charlotte nodded.

"Where was Nick's bullet?"

"In the door. Seems consistent with Astin's story, huh?"

Greg nodded, looking a little lost in his thoughts. "How about the angle?"

Charlotte shrugged. "I only processed the bullets and the guns. That's the CSIs jobs to find out, really."

"Alright, thanks. Maybe the others will find more."

"I'm sorry, Greg. Wish I had better news..." She left.

Greg went on to work on his evidence when Mandy walked in. "Okay. Just shut up and listen. I know I said I didn't want anything to do with this, but I found this confusing evidence I don't know any other way to deal with."

"Okay. So... what did you find?"

She sighed. "I found Astin's fingerprint on Nick's gun."

Greg raised his eyebrows in surprise. "How did they end up on Nick's gun? Doesn't make sense."

"It does if Astin was the one firing the shot that came from Nick's gun," Charlotte chimed in as she walked back inside. "I just looked at a picture of the crime scene. When you asked for the angle I figured it couldn't hurt. Look here." She showed Greg the picture.

"It's an upward angle. He couldn't have been standing up when he was pulling the trigger."

"If he even was the one pulling it."

"But why would Astin do something like that?"

"Oh come on, Greg. Use your imagination. He walks in while Nick has his gun drawn. Maybe even pointing it at him because he got startled when he heard the door open. Without wasting a second to think or ask any questions, Astin pulls his trigger. Twice. Nick goes down, he sees the CSI vest, panics and decides to stage it all, making Nick the irresponsible one."

Russell walked in with a confused look. "What's going on in here?"

While Greg and Mandy tried hard to keep a poker face, Charlotte knew exactly how to react. "Russell, just the man I was looking for! I got something for you!" She put her hand on Russell's back to lead him out of the evidence room, giving Mandy and Greg a chance to relax.

* * *

"Come on, how long will it take?" Greg was talking on the phone to David. He let his annoyance over the fact that the autopsy of one of the shooting victims was taking much longer than expected show.

"_I don't know, I'll call you when I know anything."_

"Fine, whatever..." As he finished that sentence, he felt a hand on his shoulder, slightly pressing it. "...What the...? Oh, Russell..."

"Who are you talking to?"

"No one. Just... David. Because of my case, you know?"

"Oh yeah? Did he find anything unusual?"

Greg shrugged. "Nah, not yet."

"Leave it alone, Greg." Russell walked past the CSI.

"...I am!"

"Oh come on. Mandy told me. If there's anything I feel you should know about the case, I'll let you know. But don't pressure the lab rats into giving up confidential information."

"I wasn't!" After he received an ironic and annoyed look by Russell, he confessed. "Alright. I'm sorry. I just want to help. I can't stand sitting around doing nothing."

"...You are supposed to work, not sit around and do nothing."

"...That was a figure of speech. I **am** working."

Russell rolled his eyes. "But too slow. You need to solve your case. You need your concentration for it, you can't keep yourself distracted with Nick. He'll be fine. He's innocent, he's got nothing to worry about."

"Yeah right..." Greg said sarcastically under his breath.

"I'm serious. Just relax. This will all be over soon."

* * *

Greg decided to take Russell's advice for a change. He really wanted to let it go, try to relax and let other people handle the case. He wanted to have faith in the system.

When he drove back to the lab after talking to a witness in his case, his car broke down. He opened the hood to take a look, hoping to be able to find out what was wrong as well as be able to fix it on his own.

"Need some help?" a familiar voice said from behind.

"I'm not sure yet, I..." Greg turned around to look at the good samaritan. He was surprised to find officer Astin walking up to him. "...You."

"CSI Sanders. We finally get a chance to talk."

Greg raised his eyebrows. "I'm not sure it's a good idea for us to talk."

"Why not? I just want to find out how your friend Stoke's doing."

"He's great, thanks for asking. Want me to tell him anything?" He gave him a look.

Astin grinned. "No. I'm just glad he's alright. My lawyer told me he doesn't remember what happened."

"For now. His memory loss might as well be just temporary."

"If not imaginary." the officer chuckled.

Greg was getting really angry but knew it wouldn't be a smart idea to let it show. "You know, some people would call this harrassment."

Astin started laughing. "What? We're just making small talk while I'm offering to help. It's my job, you know."

"I don't need your help."

Astin took a quick look under the hood of Greg's denali. "Judging from the looks of this, you need **somebody's** help. But suit yourself. Have a nice day." He walked off, still grinning.

* * *

Astin was right, Greg did need some help. But he would've rather walked all the way back to the lab by foot instead of taking this man's help. He came back to the lab an hour later than expected. "Greg, where have you been?" Russell asked annoyed. "I was starting to worry."

"Sorry, my car broke down and I had to wait for the tow truck." He sighed as he walked into the evidence room.

Russell followed him. "Are you alright? You look upset."

"Officer Astin drove by and asked if I needed his help. He said it was a great opportunity for us to talk." He rolled his eyes.

"...Did he say anything about the case?"

"Of course not! Do you think he would confess?" Greg walked out of the evidence room with an annoyed look on his face.

Again, Russell followed him as he walked into the break room. "We need to be careful with this. Going up against a police officer can end badly."

"We need to clear Nick. I don't care about the officer."

"He'll be fine."

"Oh come on." Greg turned around to fix himself a cup of coffee. "They'll be looking for someone to put the blame on. Who do you think it's going to be?"

"They won't just blame someone for the sake of it."

"Oh believe me, they will." Greg had an idea of what it was like to be in Nick's position right now. They were looking for a scapegoat in the Demetrius James case, too.

* * *

"Come on, Nick. You need to stay here. You're safe here," Sara was desperately trying to convince Nick to stay at the hospital when Greg walked into the room.

"Hey. What's going on?" he asked with a smile, not knowing about Nick's plan.

"He wants to go home!" Sara said annoyed. "You deal with this, I can't take this stubbornness anymore!" She stormed out. Everyone was on edge these days.

Greg watched her leave in confusion. "What is she talking about? You can't go home, Nick."

"Why not? I feel good enough." He moaned in pain while sitting up in his bed.

"Come on. Why do we have to do this over and over again? Stay in the hospital until you feel better."

"I **am** feeling better."

Greg walked up to him. "Don't make me do it."

"...Do what?"

"Prove you that you're not healed yet."

Nick sighed. "You know I don't like hospitals."

"Who does? But they're necessary sometimes. Plus, we can make sure you're safe in here. Do you want a police officer move in with you to assure that? With your luck, it's probably going to be Spencer!"

Nick chuckled. "Wouldn't want that."

"So how about you stay another few days and I'll visit you more often?"

"More often? You're already here twice a day!"

"We'll make it three. I can spend my lunch break with you."

Nick sighed. "Alright. I'll stay."


	5. Chapter 5

**The next chapter's ready! Enjoy!**

* * *

The swing shift was slowly trying to find out what went down in that diner. So far, all they had were Astin's fingerprints on Nick's gun. Astin's lawyer claimed that he wanted to secure the gun and grabbed it while putting it away from Nick. They usually kicked it away, though, instead of touching it, but Astin claimed he wasn't thinking straight when he did it.

Astin came up with an explanation for the upward shooting angle from Nick's gun, claiming Nick was crouching down while shooting.

So far, they couldn't put the blame on either one of them. They weren't able to track down the mysterious man inside Nick's hospital room, either.

"Greg, I need your report now." Russell walked into the A/V lab with an annoyed look on his face. A report on one of Greg's cases was due yesterday.

"I'm sorry." Greg rubbed his tired eyes. "But I've got three other cases waiting for my attention, five other reports I should've done two days ago and three hours worth of security camera footage I need to watch now." While the two were talking, Greg was already taking a look at the footage he just mentioned.

"Well did you even start the report?"

"Kinda." Greg sighed. "With Nick in the hospital, I just didn't get much time to work on it. And there was enough other stuff that needed to be done. I'm sorry. You'll get it by the end of the shift."

"Alright..." Russell sighed. He knew Greg wasn't lazy, he really didn't have the time to do it.

* * *

One of the guys on swing shift, Doug Pyle, was doing a background check on both the diner owner and Astin on the lab's computer. Pyle was doing overtime, so Greg was already on the clock when he walked into the room. "...Hey Pyle," he said while trying to take a peek at the computer.

"Hey Sanders," he replied without looking away from the screen. He just found some interesting stuff.

"So... how's the case going?"

Pyle was quite a straight-forward, but also very stuck-up guy. "I can't tell you, you know that."

"Come on, I think you owe me."

"...What?" He finally looked up from the screen. "How come?"

"Remember when your brother was a suspect in a drug dealing? I let you take a look over my shoulder every now and then."

Pyle gave him a look. "He was just selling some weed... Everybody knew he did it. Murder's a little different."

Greg looked surprised. "Murder? Nick's not a suspect in the diner shooting! ...Is he?"

"No, of course not. Bad phrasing, sorry."

"Come on, man. Nick's my friend, I need to know how you guys are doing!"

Pyle sighed annoyed. "I actually just came across some information that could help Nick."

"Yeah?" Greg had a big smile on his face. "What is it?" He sat down next to Pyle.

"...Alright, now, that's way too close. I can't show you. I shouldn't even tell you."

"...But you will tell me, anyway?"

Pyle sighed as he looked around. "Don't you dare get me in trouble for this... So I just checked Astin's and the owner of the diner's background. Astin was involved in two shootings. He received some critizism because one of the perps he shot was a 17 year old. Witnesses claim they didn't see a gun on him, but Astin won the case. The crime scene pictures showed a gun next to the victim and all. The owner of the diner has a rap sheet."

"...Really?"

"Yeah, but the last offense was 30 years ago when he was in high school. He was dealing with drugs."

"...And that's it? Nothing else?"

Pyle shrugged. "It's something."

"...I'm not sure about that." Greg rolled his eyes as he got off his seat. "But thanks, anyway."

* * *

Sara and Greg were called to a new scene with a dead body lying near a construction side. David was already processing the body when the two arrived. Greg was taking a look around the premises while Sara took a look at the body. They were working on that case for three straight days when Greg first took a look at pictures of the body. "It just seems like a weird way to kill someone. I mean it all looked like it was premeditated, and yet the suspect didn't manage to bring a gun or knife?" Sara asked as the two were walking through the lab's halls.

Greg stopped for a moment as he looked at the picture of the dead body.

"...What's wrong?"

He quickly closed the file. "Nothing."

"Is there something off about the body?"

Greg thought about pretending he hadn't seen the picture of the body, but he knew it wouldn't have been a very good idea. "I think that's the guy who tried to kill Nick in the hospital room."

* * *

"Did you find out anything about that murder?" Russell asked as he was sitting in his chair inside his office.

Sara was sitting opposite him. "All we have are some foot prints we don't know who they belong to."

"That's it?"

"The murderer was suffocating the victim with his hand, there's not much he could've left behind," Greg chimed in, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Did he fight back?"

"He was drugged up. We believe he was passed out by the drugs already."

Russell looked surprised. "Is there a chance he was on drugs when you saw him in the hospital?"

Greg shook his head. "Didn't look like it. But it's sometimes hard to tell."

"But it is weird. He was shooting up heroin shortly before his death, but David didn't find anything that suggests he did it before. We're still waiting for the hair test, though," Sara explained.

Russell nodded. "You two can't work on that case anymore."

"I know." Sara sighed. "I was just about to talk to the victim's brother, so... whoever takes over should probably start there."

* * *

Since the man who attempted to murder Nick was dead, Nick felt confident enough to leave the hospital. Since he knew Greg would again try to convince him to stay a little longer, he didn't tell his friend. Instead, Greg had to find out when he came to visit Nick. A few hours after Nick had arrived home, he heard a knock on the door. "Greg, I was expecting you." He smiled.

Greg gave him a look. "Why didn't you say something? I went to visit you after work only to find you checked out. Can you imagine how shocked I was to see another guy lying in your bed?"

Nick chuckled. "I'm sorry, but it was necessary. Come in."

Both walked into the living room. Greg noticed how slow Nick was walking. "Are you sure you're okay on your own?"

"I just couldn't stay there any longer."

"No, I mean... I could move in with you until you feel better." Greg sat down on the couch. "You'll need some help."

"I'll be fine, but thanks." Nick smiled. He was stubborn enough to believe his words.

Greg sighed. "Well then... At least let me help you out somehow. I could drive you to the grocery store for example."

"Why did we never get married?" Nick laughed. "I said I'll be fine. I'll ask for help if I need it."

Again, Nick received a look by Greg. "Now that would be a first. But whatever, your decision."


	6. Chapter 6

**Welcome new Followers! ;) This chapter was real fun to write, I hope you enjoy reading it at least as much!  
**

* * *

Because Nick had been in the hospital for two weeks he felt a little trapped and needed to get out, so him and Greg went for a walk. They both kind of felt like they needed to avoid talking about what happened in the diner, but Greg had too many unanswered questions he hoped Nick could help him with. "So your memory's not coming back at all?"

Nick shrugged as they – very slowly – walked around Nick's neighborhood. "Some images are coming back. At least I think they're memories and not just fantasies."

"Like what?"

"After I got shot... I think I saw someone walking out of the diner, but it was probably Astin, right?"

Greg nodded thoughtful. "This guy really freaks me out."

"Do you think there's a chance I'm the one who messed up?"

Greg looked surprised at Nick. "What do you mean?"

"Well do you think it might be possible I got startled by him entering and just shot at him?"

Greg hastily shook his head. "No way. You didn't do anything wrong, this gu..." Greg stopped. "What the hell?!" He looked over to a diner on the other side of the street.

"...What is it?"

"...Stay here."

* * *

Greg crossed the street to enter the diner. He thought he'd seen officer Astin sit in there, watching them. And indeed, Astin was there with two colleagues. "Were you watching us?" Greg asked as he stormed up to the three officers.

"Excuse me?" Astin grinned at Greg.

"Oh come on, like it's a coincidence you're here."

Astin and his colleagues laughed. "You just walked in. If anything, **you** were stalking **me**."

"Yeah right. You were watching us!"

"Hey Gabe, is there a new law that forbids me to look through a window?" Astin giggled.

Greg felt uncomfortable. He didn't really think this through. He didn't consider the possibility of this being just a coincidence. This area was, after all, Astin's precinct. Greg knew that. "So you didn't see us walk by?"

"Who's 'us'? All I see is you."

Greg raised an eyebrow. He looked through the window. Nick was clearly visible. "Leave him alone."

Again, Astin and his colleagues laughed. "Am I not leaving him alone right now?"

Greg took a step forward. "I don't want to see you anywhere near him! He doesn't need that!"

Astin's colleague Gabe got off his seat. "You better get lost now."

If he would've been thinking straight, Greg would've left the diner by now. He was too angry to do that, though. He was sure Astin was here on purpose, watching him and Nick. "Stay away from Nick!"

Gabe pushed Greg. "That's enough!" He walked him out as he put his hand around Greg's arm.

* * *

"You're lucky I'm on my lunch break, otherwise I would've arrested you," Gabe said in a very calm voice as he pushed Greg out of the diner.

Nick walked up to the two. "Hey, officer, what's wrong?" He quickly got his CSI ID out.

"I think your friend can answer this question better. Have a nice day." He walked back in.

"What the hell was that, Greg?"

"Come on, let's go." Greg grabbed Nick's arm and pulled him in the direction they were coming from.

Nick shook him off. "What, you're not gonna tell me why you've just been thrown out of a diner by an officer? Who was that guy?"

Greg sighed. "He's friends with Astin. He's inside."

"...You talked to him?"

"I thought he was stalking us or something. It can't be a coincidence he's here right now."

"...It's noon and this is his precinct. He's probably on his lunch break."

Greg raised both eyebrows. "How do you know that this is his precinct?"

"..." Nick turned around and started walking back home without answering Greg.

Greg followed. "You researched the guy, didn't you?"

Nick laughed humorlessly. "I spent two weeks in a hospital bed, what else was I supposed to do?"

"...Did you find anything of use?"

"Not really. He's divorced, has two kids that live somewhere in California... I think that's it."

Greg sighed disappointed. "That's not really much, now, is it?"

The two had only walked a few hundred feet when Astin and his two colleagues walked out of the diner. Greg noticed but deliberately didn't turn around to look at them.

"Hey Sanders!" Astin yelled as the three walked up to them.

"Just ignore him," Nick whispered to Greg as he noticed his friend getting more and more annoyed by the officer. They tried to keep on walking and ignore them, but the officers wouldn't let them.

"Hey!" Astin said as he grabbed Greg's shoulder to turn him around. "You were so eager to talk to me before and now you're ignoring me?" He grinned.

"We don't have time for this, we need to get going," Greg replied annoyed. He wanted to turn around again, but the officer wouldn't let thim.

"Hey Stokes, how about you take a hike? We're not supposed to talk to each other."

Nick gave him a look. "Well then, feel free to leave us alone. I'm not going anywhere."

Ignoring Nick, Astin put his arm around Greg's shoulder as he whispered in his ear. At the same time, Gabe walked up to Nick, grabbed his arm and walked him away from Greg. "...Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?! Don't touch me!" Nick was too weak to fight the officer off.

"It's okay, Nick. Just go with him..." Greg said both annoyed and nervous. He had a bad feeling about this.

Gabe walked Nick out of Astin's and Greg's sight.

Greg tried to get out of Astin's grip without using any force. "Get off of me. If you want to talk, fine, but..."

Astin pulled Greg closer to him as he grabbed his right wrist. "How does that feel, huh?" he whispered to him.

"...What... Let go of me." Greg was getting more and more nervous. He wasn't very comfortable with any physical contact at the moment, especially not with someone he hated and didn't trust. He started to try and push Astin away from him when the other cop walked up closer to him with a weird grin on his face.

"...I know it all," Astin whispered in his ear again.

"...What are you doing...? Nick!" Greg tried to turn his head around to look at Nick, who was too far away to hear anything. But Astin didn't let him, anyway. The officer was using more force to restrain him while his colleague walked up to him in an aggressive manner. As Greg's survival instinct kicked in and he was now using force to push Astin away.

* * *

Russell walked into the police station near Nick's home quite heavy-hearted. He looked very thoughtful as he signed some papers before walking down to where the holding cells were. "I never thought I'd have to do this," he said with quite a sad smile on his face.

"Really? 'Cause I always fantasized about this moment and it's all I ever wished for," Greg replied sarcastically as he looked at Russell from behind the bars of the cell he was in, sitting on a bench. "Where's Nick?"

"I sent him to the lab."

"...Why?"

"Because I knew he wouldn't have listened to me had I told him to go home. But he can't be here, either."

"Well... Thanks for doing this. I'll pick Nick up at the lab and then..." Greg got ready to leave.

Russell interrupted him. "Not so fast. What the hell happened? Why did they arrest you?"

"Didn't they tell you I assaulted officer As..."

He interrupted him again. "No, I heard that. But you can't blame me for needing a little bit more of an explanation. Why did you do it?"

Greg sighed. "He provoked me." He started to nervously tap with his feet.

Russell gave him a look. "Now there's a great defense."

"But he **did**. He put his arm around me and whispered something in my ear."

Russell didn't really look all that impressed. "That's all it takes for you to swing a hit at somebody? A cop, no less?"

"I didn't hit him, okay? I pushed him away. Which, by the way, I think was my right to do."

Russell chuckled. "I guess the officers who watched it didn't think so, huh?"

"They were his friends! And one of them was coming at me while Astin restrained me. I didn't know what they were gonna do to me."

"...They're cops, what do you think they had in mind?"

Greg shrugged. "I just felt like I needed to defend myself."

"So what did he whisper to you? Did you hear it?"

Greg was a little hesistant to tell Russell. He didn't feel like he was all too understanding about this and the whole thing was embarrassing. "He asked... he said 'I know. I know it all'."

Russell looked confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well shortly before..." Greg stopped himself. He wanted to tell Russell how he came to the following conclusion, but he didn't want to get Nick into trouble. "...I think he read my file and knows I have a short fuse when it comes to physical contact."

"But you can't prove that, now, can you?"

"Of course not. Astin's not stupid. But he used this information against me to have a reason to arrest me."

"...Why would he want that?"

"I don't know. ...You don't think this is my fault, do you?"

Russell sighed. "I'm not sure what to think, Greg. All I know is that you shouldn't even talk to Astin. Especially not with Nick standing right next to you two. You could've gotten him into a lot of trouble today."

"They walked him away, I didn't know what they did to him, I..."

"You were scared for Nick's life?"

Greg nodded with a sad look. "Look at that, Russell." He hopped off the bench to lift his shirt, exposing some nasty bruises as well as some abrasions. His hands and arms looked the same, and his jeans were all ripped up, too. "**They** did this."

Russell looked a bit worried. "I'm sure they didn't mean..."

Greg interrupted him. "At the very least they didn't care, but if you ask me, they were using excessive force on purpose."

"...Well, you did fight back, didn't you?"

"How could I? Two guys tackled me to the ground, twisted my arm and wrist, it all went so fast." In fact, Greg did try to fight back. Panic mode had set in full when the two were all over him, but he just wasn't strong enough to fight two big men off. Something that worked in his favor now.

Russell sighed. "I'll do my best to make this disappear, but you should prepare yourself. You might need to go to court for this."

Greg rolled his eyes. He knew that the worst that could happen to him was to pay a fine. "I don't care either way. But someone needs to get Astin off the streets. He's crazy."

Russell couldn't really disagree with this, he thought so, too. "Just stay away from hi..."

The supervisor was interrupted by Astin walking in. "CSI Russell, nice to see you again." He gave him a friendly smile before turning to Greg. "Ready to get out of here?"

Astin's colleague, the one who came at Greg and made the arrest, Stephen Morton, walked in, too, causing Greg to look very uncomfortable.

"Is there anything you want to say before we let you out?" Astin asked Greg with a grin.

"Just get me out of here," he replied annoyed and defeated.

"Don't you want to apologize for attacking us?"

"I'd rather spend a week in here," Greg replied cocky.

"As you wish." Astin and Morton turned around laughing while Russell gave Greg a look, encouraging him to apologize, after all.

"...Wait." They turned around again. They now had the biggest grins on their faces, making it harder for him to sound sincere. "I'm sorry for fighting back when you two..."

"Is that what an apology sounds like, Stephen?" Astin asked.

"Not at all," he replied.

They didn't even let Greg finish as they turned back around. "Enjoy your stay a little longer, maybe think about how you want to aproach us the next time."

"Officers, wait," now Russell chimed in. "Greg, apologize to them."

Greg sighed as he gave Russell a look. "I'm sorry I attacked you. I didn't intend to hurt you..." It was painfully obvious how hard it was for him to get these words out.

"Attaboy," Astin said joyful.

"...What now? Is there going to be a trial?" Russell asked worried.

Astin shook his head. "Hey, we're all on the same side, right? CSIs and cops are like family. No harm done, he's a free man."

* * *

"What's gotten into you?" Russell asked annoyed as him and Greg walked out of the police station.

"I don't have to take their crap," Greg replied annoyed. He felt like he shouldn't have apologized to them.

"Yes you do! When they arrest you for something you could spend a year in prison for, you have to do what they ask you to."

"So you expect me to kiss their asses the next time?" He rolled his eyes.

"I expect you to do the smart thing. I don't like it, either, but they had power over you. They coud've let you in that cell for much longer if they wanted to."

"I know that. I just... It was humiliating to apologize to these meatheads. There was nothing I needed to apologize for." The mere fact that they had so much power over him was what made Greg uncomfortable.

Russell gave him a look. "Morton looked a little bruised around the eye. Sure you didn't hit him?"

"Of course not!" Morton had claimed that, but it wasn't true.

"...Because the file says so."


	7. Chapter 7

**Seven chapters already! We're getting closer to the last one!**

* * *

After three hours in the holding cell, Greg picked Nick up from the lab and drove him home. Both men sat down on the couch. They were beat. "You know you didn't have to drive me home. You have to be back in the lab in an hour." Nick sighed.

"No, it's okay." In fact, Greg was growing more and more suspicious over officer Astin and wanted to make sure Nick got home safe. He knew he was becoming paranoid but thought that this would be better than to risk anything. "I don't want to hang around the lab longer than necessary, anyway. Russell's not too happy about the whole incident."

Nick smiled at Greg. "For what it's worth... I tried to convince him it wasn't your fault."

Greg returned the smile, but his was much more disencouraging than Nick's. "Thanks. But it's not important. It's not like it changes anything."

"Are you sure you're alright? You look different."

"That's what jail does to you," Greg joked, trying to hide the fact that he really wasn't okay. The humiliation of apologizing to the two officers weighed heavy on Greg's confidence.

* * *

The following days, Russell tried hard to make Greg forget about the whole incident. He noticed it kept Greg distracted so he tried several ways to help him. He even succeeded for a while. Greg was not pre-occupied with it for quite some time.

In the meantime, the swing shift was making lots of progress in their hunt for the shooter in the diner. Greg decided to take a look at the case, despite Russell demanding he stayed away. It payed off, he discovered that something was off. He stood in the evidence room, staring at some pictures of the crime scene for almost twenty minutes, shocked over his discovery.

"...Greg! I told you to stay away from that case!" Russell rushed in, ripping the pictures out of Greg's hands.

"...Hey!"

"I told you to stay away! Not only for yourself but also for Nick! If they even find the slightest clue to..."

Greg interrupted him. "Take a look at that picture."

"We're not supposed to..."

"This is not the same picture they took at the crime scene."

Russell raised his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"That's not the picture that was first taken of the back of the diner."

"How do you know?"

Greg grabbed the pictures out of Russell's hand and started laying them down across the light table. "Take a look at the menu. It has a little blood drop on every picture except this one."

Russell took a close look. "...You're right. What the hell's going on?"

* * *

CSI Pyle was sitting in Brass' office, nervously tapping his foot. Russell was in there, too, but Greg had to wait outside. They showed Pyle the pictures he had taken at the crime scene and asked why the blood drop on the menu was missing in one shot. "...I-I don't know, I didn't even notice."

"Did Astin ask you to get rid of one picture?"

He hastily shook his head. "I've never even met Astin. I-I swear, I didn't do anything to that picture."

* * *

"Russell!" Greg hurried inside the supervisor's office.

Russell looked up from some files in surprise. "There you are. Why did you leave earlier? I wanted to tell you what Pyle had to say."

"Nothing useful, I guessed, so I did some research."

Russell sighed. "You were not supposed to... Alright, I'll bite. What did you find."

"Mary Gunn, you know her, right?"

Russell thought about it. "Oh yeah, sure. She works in swing shift aswell, right?"

Greg nodded. "Yeah well, her husband's a police officer. Guess who he works with."

"...Astin."

"I think she was the one who switched the pictures."

"...But why?"

"I don't really remember the picture but I think there's something missing on the new shot."

"Maybe something that would've told us that Astin messed up?"

Greg gave him a confident grin. "Gotta be something like that."

* * *

Instead of asking CSI Gunn about the picture, they decided to ask the rest of the swing shift about it and if they were able to remember what the original was showing. But instead of cooperation the CSIs showed stubbornness. The CSIs all felt offended and decided to stick together instead of accusing someone from their own team. But as IA was taking over the investigation, they found a lot more evidence missing and quickly found out about the connection between CSI Gunn and Astin. This resulted in Astin, CSI Gunn and her husband being interrogated by IA.

The three all kept their story straight but Gunn's husband was very nervous throughout the whole interrogation, causing to raise a lot of suspicion. The swing shift was still supporting Gunn, though.

Nick had been a few days out of the hospital and finally had to accept the fact that he needed some help around the house. He was still recovering from the gunshot wounds and was in a lot of pain. He asked Greg to stay with him for a few days and his friend accepted joyfully.

On this wednesday, Greg had been asleep for two hours after a long shift. His sleep had been a little bit lighter after Nick got shot, but after a few nights staying alert, he couldn't do it anymore. He slept like a rock and didn't notice when the door to the guestroom he was sleeping in opened. He noticed when someone was walking up closer to the bed, though. He slowly opened his eyes to find a silhouette bended over him. He naturally startled, but relaxed when the light got turned on. "...Nick, what the hell?! You scared me!"

"Sorry, but this couldn't wait..." he replied in a weird tone.

"...You could've at least knocked."

"I did."

Greg looked confused and sleepy. "So why did you wake me up?" He sat up in bed while Nick sat down on the bedside.

"I had a dream. And it felt so real I wonder if it's a memory."

"About the shooting? What was it?"

"A cop walked in with his gun drawn and while I wanted to explain what happened... He shot at me."

"...Did you see his face in your dream? Was it Astin?!" Greg asked rather excited.

"I'm not sure. I don't even know if this means anything. You kept telling me what you think happened, maybe that's why..."

Greg interrupted him. "But look at you. You're all shaken up! It has to mean something!"

"...But even if it does, a dream sure won't be taken serious in court."

"Doesn't matter, Nick. Don't you get what it means if your dream is a memory? Astin **wanted** to shoot you."


End file.
